Clever, fast-paced fantasy punctuated with surprising twists and plenty of girl power.
Rival apprentice wizards join forces when their teacher is accused of treason and their island is threatened.
Twelve-year-old Antonia lives on the island of Medasia and dreams of becoming a wizard. Currently studying magic with Master Betrys, Antonia has a brilliant command of the technical aspects of wizardry, but her innate magical power is limited. Then Moppe, also 12, an uneducated girl with “olive skin…a shade darker” than Antonia’s, arrives as under-cook. Barely able to read, Moppe’s a powerful, untrained magical prodigy who instantly becomes Master Betrys’ newest apprentice and Antonia’s rival. When rebels seek to find the lost crown of Medasia and liberate the island, Antonia’s politically powerful mother orders her to find the crown first or forget her magical studies. After Master Betrys is arrested on suspicion of supporting the rebels, her rival apprentices use Antonia’s magical knowledge and Moppe’s magical power to search for the crown, hoping to clear their teacher’s name. Surviving the Forest of Silent Fears, outwitting the voice-stealing Speakthief, and deposing a warmongering mermaid, Antonia and Moppe recover the lost crown only to face a shocking betrayal, testing their newly forged friendship. Antonia’s lively first-person narration lends immediacy and suspense to this compelling, complex adventure filled with capable, fully dimensional, brown-skinned women.
Clever, fast-paced fantasy punctuated with surprising twists and plenty of girl power. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3905-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Come for the dragons but stay for the suspenseful reveals and relatable characters.
A lonely and anxious English girl discovers a family secret in this series opener from acclaimed Scottish author Murray.
Twelve-year-old Alex Evans, who presents white, lives a cloistered life with her controlling mother. Her only escape is the nearby forest, which reminds her of her deceased father. There she meets Oliphos, a kind (and oddly dressed) Black man with a Scottish accent, who tells her something surprising about her heritage. Oliphos introduces Alex to Dr. Archibald P. Puppinsworth, a Dragon Scholar who knows all about the Otherworld, the magical dimension where dragons live. Alex realizes that she possesses a special power that might help locate the Phylactery, a long-missing magical object sought by the villainous Drak Midna, a terrifyingly manipulative—and enormous—ancient dragon. Along the way to Skralla, one of the last dragon refuges, with Oliphos, Alex meets Erik, an orphan with “chestnut curls” who understands what it’s like to feel like an outsider. Both young people are battling unknowns and deep loneliness, and their complex characterization feels realistic even though fantasy worldbuilding forms the backdrop of their friendship. Coming from a highly sheltered background, Alex may be naïve at first, but she grows in maturity and bravery as the book progresses. The well-executed worldbuilding includes portals called waypaths and dragons with creative features. Murray explores themes of intolerance through the world’s history of human-dragon conflict.
Come for the dragons but stay for the suspenseful reveals and relatable characters. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9798217113217
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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